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Monday, May 25, 2015

Vatican City, 24 May 2015 (VIS) – The
Holy Father's message for the 89th World Mission Day was published
today. To be held on Sunday 18 October 2015, this year the Day will
take place in the context of the Year of Consecrated Life and will
therefore highlight the bond between faith and mission.

The following is the full text of the
message:

“The 2015 World Mission Sunday 2015
takes place in the context of the Year of Consecrated Life, which
provides a further stimulus for prayer and reflection. For if every
baptised person is called to bear witness to the Lord Jesus by
proclaiming the faith received as a gift, this is especially so for
each consecrated man and woman. There is a clear connection between
consecrated life and mission. The desire to follow Jesus closely,
which led to the emergence of consecrated life in the Church,
responds to his call to take up the cross and follow him, to imitate
his dedication to the Father and his service and love, to lose our
life so as to gain it. Since Christ’s entire existence had a
missionary character, so too, all those who follow him closely must
possess this missionary quality.

The missionary dimension, which belongs
to the very nature of the Church, is also intrinsic to all forms of
consecrated life, and cannot be neglected without detracting from and
disfiguring its charism. Being a missionary is not about
proselytising or mere strategy; mission is part of the 'grammar' of
faith, something essential for those who listen to the voice of the
Spirit who whispers 'Come' and 'Go forth'. Those who follow Christ
cannot fail to be missionaries, for they know that Jesus 'walks with
them, speaks to them, breathes with them. They sense Jesus alive with
them in the midst of the missionary enterprise'.

Mission is a passion for Jesus and at
the same time a passion for his people. When we pray before Jesus
crucified, we see the depth of his love which gives us dignity and
sustains us. At the same time, we realise that the love flowing from
Jesus’ pierced heart expands to embrace the People of God and all
humanity. We realise once more that he wants to make use of us to
draw closer to his beloved people and all those who seek him with a
sincere heart. In Jesus’ command to 'go forth', we see the
scenarios and ever-present new challenges of the Church’s
evangelising mission. 'l her members are called to proclaim the
Gospel by their witness of life. In a particular way, consecrated men
and women are asked to listen to the voice of the Spirit who calls
them to go to the peripheries, to those to whom the Gospel has not
yet been proclaimed.

The fiftieth anniversary of the Second
Vatican Council’s Decree Ad Gentes is an invitation to all of us to
reread this document and to reflect on its contents. The Decree
called for a powerful missionary impulse in Institutes of Consecrated
Life. For contemplative communities, St. Theresa of the Child Jesus,
Patroness of the Missions, appears in a new light; she speaks with
renewed eloquence and inspires reflection upon the deep connection
between contemplative life and mission. For many active religious
communities, the missionary impulse which emerged from the Council
was met with an extraordinary openness to the mission ad gentes,
often accompanied by an openness to brothers and sisters from the
lands and cultures encountered in evangelisation, to the point that
today one can speak of a widespread 'interculturalism' in the
consecrated life. Hence there is an urgent need to reaffirm that the
central ideal of mission is Jesus Christ, and that this ideal demands
the total gift of oneself to the proclamation of the Gospel. On this
point there can be no compromise: those who by God’s grace accept
the mission, are called to live the mission. For them, the
proclamation of Christ in the many peripheries of the world becomes
their way of following him, one which more than repays them for the
many difficulties and sacrifices they make. Any tendency to deviate
from this vocation, even if motivated by noble reasons due to
countless pastoral, ecclesial or humanitarian needs, is not
consistent with the Lord’s call to be personally at the service of
the Gospel. In Missionary Institutes, formators are called to
indicate clearly and frankly this plan of life and action, and to
discern authentic missionary vocations. I appeal in particular to
young people, who are capable of courageous witness and generous
deeds, even when these are countercultural: Do not allow others to
rob you of the ideal of a true mission, of following Jesus through
the total gift of yourself. In the depths of your conscience, ask
yourself why you chose the religious missionary life and take stock
of your readiness to accept it for what it is: a gift of love at the
service of the proclamation of the Gospel. Remember that, even
before being necessary for those who have not yet heard it, the
proclamation of the Gospel is a necessity for those who love the
Master.

Today, the Church’s mission is faced
by the challenge of meeting the needs of all people to return to
their roots and to protect the values of their respective cultures.
This means knowing and respecting other traditions and philosophical
systems, and realising that all peoples and cultures have the right
to be helped from within their own traditions to enter into the
mystery of God’s wisdom and to accept the Gospel of Jesus, who is
light and transforming strength for all cultures.

Within this complex dynamic, we ask
ourselves: 'Who are the first to whom the Gospel message must be
proclaimed?'. The answer, found so often throughout the Gospel, is
clear: it is the poor, the little ones and the sick, those who are
often looked down upon or forgotten, those who cannot repay us.
Evangelisation directed preferentially to the least among us is a
sign of the Kingdom that Jesus came to bring: 'There is an
inseparable bond between our faith and the poor. May we never abandon
them'. This must be clear above all to those who embrace the
consecrated missionary life: by the vow of poverty, they choose to
follow Christ in his preference for the poor, not ideologically, but
in the same way that he identified himself with the poor: by living
like them amid the uncertainties of everyday life and renouncing all
claims to power, and in this way to become brothers and sisters of
the poor, bringing them the witness of the joy of the Gospel and a
sign of God’s love.

Living as Christian witnesses and as
signs of the Father’s love among the poor and underprivileged,
consecrated persons are called to promote the presence of the lay
faithful in the service of Church’s mission. As the Second Vatican
Council stated: 'The laity should cooperate in the Church's work of
evangelisation; as witnesses and at the same time as living
instruments, they share in her saving mission'. Consecrated
missionaries need to generously welcome those who are willing to work
with them, even for a limited period of time, for an experience in
the field. They are brothers and sisters who want to share the
missionary vocation inherent in Baptism. The houses and structures of
the missions are natural places to welcome them and to provide for
their human, spiritual and apostolic support.

The Church’s Institutes and
Missionary Congregations are completely at the service of those who
do not know the Gospel of Jesus. This means that they need to count
on the charisms and missionary commitment of their consecrated
members. But consecrated men and women also need a structure of
service, an expression of the concern of the Bishop of Rome, in order
to ensure koinonia, for cooperation and synergy are an integral part
of the missionary witness. Jesus made the unity of his disciples a
condition so that the world may believe. This convergence is not the
same as legalism or institutionalism, much less a stifling of the
creativity of the Spirit, who inspires diversity. It is about giving
a greater fruitfulness to the Gospel message and promoting that unity
of purpose which is also the fruit of the Spirit.

The Missionary Societies of the
Successor of Peter have a universal apostolic horizon. This is why
they also need the many charisms of consecrated life, to address the
vast horizons of evangelisation and to be able to ensure adequate
presence in whatever lands they are sent.

Dear brothers and sisters, a true
missionary is passionate for the Gospel. St. Paul said: 'Woe to me if
I do not preach the Gospel!'. The Gospel is the source of joy,
liberation and salvation for all men and women. The Church is aware
of this gift, and therefore she ceaselessly proclaims to everyone
'what was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen
with our eyes'. The mission of the servants of the Word – bishops,
priests, religious and laity – is to allow everyone, without
exception, to enter into a personal relationship with Christ. In the
full range of the Church’s missionary activity, all the faithful
are called to live their baptismal commitment to the fullest, in
accordance with the personal situation of each. A generous response
to this universal vocation can be offered by consecrated men and
women through an intense life of prayer and union with the Lord and
his redeeming sacrifice.

To Mary, Mother of the Church and model
of missionary outreach, I entrust all men and women who, in every
state of life work to proclaim the Gospel, ad gentes or in their own
lands. To all missionaries of the Gospel I willingly impart my
Apostolic Blessing”.